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Interview with Lottie and Willard N. Mills, Edward Dodge, and Raymond Bower
Lucille Higgins and Zula Bierly
An interview with Lottie and Willard N. Mills, Edward Dodge, and Raymond Bower containing various songs, stories, and reminiscences.
00:00:25 - Lottie Mills, Song, Only Common Bill
00:01:39 - Willard Mills, Song, Only Common Bill (alternate tune)
00:02:52 - Lottie Mills, Song, I'll Make a Cake For Charlie
00:03:19 - Song, My Mother Will Buy Me A Rubber Dolly
00:04:21 - Song, The Baggage Coach
00:07:23 - Song, Samson and the mule
00:08:13 - Willard Mills, song, Grandfather's Clock
00:08:45 - Lottie Mills, childhood games
00:10:33 - Willard Mills, song, Oh How He Lied
00:12:00 - Edward Dodge, introduction. This interview is transcribed.
00:12:13 - Murder of the Haufmaster girl south of Great Bend and subsequent hanging of the killer
00:16:19 - Lynching and dragging of a Black man in Great Bend
00:19:11 - Brothers and sisters
00:20:03 - Early Great Bend
00:22:55 - First home in Great Bend
00:24:29 - Working cattle
00:25:47 - Christmas customs
00:27:38 - Experience with Indigenous Americans
00:29:04 - Mouse in the molasses
00:31:09 - Oxen collared like horses
00:33:07 - Unknown man, recitation, the story of the farmer
00:34:50 - Recitation, The Little Boy's Soliloquy
00:35:39 - Recitation, Three Boys Arguing
00:36:15 - Recitation, The 500-word Theme
00:37:06 - Song, The Old Armchair
00:38:20 - Song, Why I Love and Adore Jesus
00:41:15 - Raymond Bower, introduction. This interview is transcribed
00:41:34 - Biographical information
00:42:35 - Stories told to Mr. Bower by Jules Van Meter
00:43:10 - Experience with the Pawnee Bob in about 1874
00:44:47 - Shooting a mouse off a shelf in 1875
00:45:45 - Haunting at Gray's Draw
00:48:46 - Story of William Gibbon
00:49:36 - Story of Squire "Hankie" Oliver, Justice of the Peace for Norton County
00:50:39 - Story of Grose Page, Norton cattle buyer -
Interview with Marla Stone - The History of the US in Folksong
Paulette Bray
Interview with Marla Stone. Due to copyright restrictions, the second half of this recording is available only by request.
00:00:00 - Introduction, the original 13 colonies
00:00:32 - Song, "Joe Clark", vocal and guitar
00:00:58 - Colonial rebellion and the Boston Tea Party
00:02:19 - Song, "Chester", vocal and guitar
00:03:33 - War of 1812
00:04:16 - Song, "Shenandoah", vocal and guitar
00:05:36 - Gold Rush of 1849
00:06:07 - Song, "Oh Suzanna", vocal and guitar
00:06:50 - Civil War
00:07:45 - Song, "Cruel War", vocal and guitar
00:10:00 - The war continues
00:10:39 - Song, "Battle Hymn of the Republic", vocal and guitar
00:13:30 - Battle of Gettysburg and the end of the war
00:14:23 - Song, "John Henry", vocal and guitar
00:14:53 - Rise of the trade unions
00:15:09 - Song, "Joe Hill", vocal and guitar
00:17:10 - The cowboy era
00:17:24 - Song, "Get Along Little Doggies", vocal and guitar
00:18:10 - WWI and the Great Depression
00:18:38 - Song, "Yankee Doodle", vocal and guitar
00:19:02 - Pearl Harbor, WWII, and the Cold War
00:19:27 - Song, "This is my Country", vocal and guitar -
Interview with Martha and David Wedel
Judith Arthur
Interview with Martha and David Wedel.
00:00:00 - Introduction
00:00:10 - History of Mennonites moving to Russia from Germany. This portion of the interview is difficult to understand.
00:01:32 - Mennonites move to Kansas
00:02:50 - The "Immigrant House"
00:04:30 - Problems faced by the Mennonite immigrants
00:06:19 - German school
00:07:41 - Children's rhymes
00:15:45 - Games
00:16:39 - Social life for young people
00:18:23 - Courtship and marriage
00:23:02 - Weddings
00:31:09 - Weather prediction and superstitions
00:33:28 - Names and nicknames
00:36:23 - Crowd games
00:37:55 - Song, "Skip to my Lou", vocal
00:39:09 - Song, "There is Somebody Waiting", vocal
00:39:40 - Song, "Suzie Brownie", vocal
00:41:01 - Song, "Go In and Out the Windows"
00:41:40 - Butchering day
00:44:51 - Education
00:46:19 - Church customs
00:50:09 - Sunday services
00:52:02 - Hymns sung in German and then in English
00:55:28 - Information regarding the interview -
Interview with Marvin Strohmeier and Effie Sumner Fuller
Kay Eloise Williams and Roma M. Smith
An interview with Marvin Strohmeier regarding the early days of Hays, KS, and Effie Sumner Fuller regarding the early history of Nicodemus, KS.
The introduction is missing.
00:00:05 - Marvin Strohmeier, immigrating to the United States from Germany
00:00:57 - Hays, KS in 1886
00:02:33 - Schools in Hays
00:04:07 - Herding cattle for the Barry family
00:05:05 - Molasses mill at Hays
00:07:02 - Going to work for John Orth and the geography around Schoenchen, KS
00:08:41 - Farm houses and sod houses
00:09:20 - Going to work for John Kelly in 1890 and the flood in the fall of 1890
00:11:09 - School experience
00:12:12 - Marrying his wife in 1905
00:13:36 - Old Settler's Picnic
00:16:07 - Serving in the Army during the Spanish American War
00:18:54 - Homesteading on the Smoky Hill River in 1904
00:20:10 - Rattlesnake under the baby buggy
00:22:42 - Fishing in Big Creek as a boy
00:24:08 - Wages for herding cattle in the 1890s
00:25:43 - Harvest crew struck by lightning in 1897
00:30:07 - Prairie fire in 1897
00:31:14 - Driving to surrounding towns
00:35:50 - Livery barns in Hays
00:38:53 - Mrs. Effie Green Sumner Fuller, African American teacher, and daughter of former slaves, interview introduction
00:39:21 - Father's service as an African American soldier during the Civil War
00:40:30 - Mother's early life in Texas
00:40:50 - Experience with Indigenous American leaders at Ft. Leavenworth
00:41:11 - Personal background
00:41:48 - Life in early Nicodemus, KS
00:44:45 - Song, Go Down To The Water (African American baptismal hymn)
00:45:52 - Politicians at the Emancipation celebration in Nicodemus
00:49:27 - Changes in Nicodemus over the years
00:50:00 - Two Nicodemus families moving back to Africa
00:50:54 - Marrying Lorenzo Fuller in 1916 and husband's entertainer career with the Fuller Concert Company
00:55:20 - Travels
00:55:54 - Son, actor and performer, Lorenzo Fuller Jr.
00:58:26 - Song on organ chime bells, Old Black Joe
01:00:00 - Song, Go Down, Moses
01:01:19 - Song, Steal Away Home
01:02:51 - O.T. Medder, minister of the Congregational church in Stockton on meeting the Fullers
01:04:24 - Religious life in Nicodemus
01:05:21 - African American religious community in Stockton
01:06:26 - Masonic Lodge in Nicodemus
01:07:08 - African American funerals -
Interview with Mary C. Highland of Bucklin, Kansas
Phil Webber
An interview with Mary C. Highland regarding her experiences as a homesteader in western Kansas.
00:01:36 - Harvesting milo
00:02:43 - Life in the sod house
00:05:43 - Women homesteaders
00:06:25 - Corporal punishment in the schools
00:07:49 - Looking at photographs
00:10:47 - Old Bucklin
00:11:33 - First automobiles
00:14:33 - Trees in Kansas
00:15:09 - Wild game
00:18:06 - Carrying a firearm
00:19:25 - Family arriving in Kansas
00:20:42 - Boot Hill
00:22:12 - Experiences with Indigenous Americans
00:23:12 - Family immigrating from Germany
00:25:46 - Criticisms of the government and economic system
00:26:42 - Early Jetmore
00:29:16 - Changes in the river
00:30:54 - Herding sheep
00:31:53 - Sister-in-law having a baby (tape ends and is incomplete)
The Samuel J. Sackett Folklore Collection consists of recordings created by Dr. Sackett and his graduate assistants between the years of 1954 and 1977. Dr. Sackett and his assistants interviewed immigrants, homesteaders, and other community figures in Kansas and beyond, with a specific focus on folk music and folk lore. Subjects covered include folk music, folk stories, immigration and homesteading in the late 1800s through early 1900s, relations with Indigenous Americans and other minorities, Volga-German music, language, and customs, along with a wealth of genealogical information. Some of the recordings include racially sensitive language and as well as accounts of hate crimes. Originally recorded on reel-to-reel media, the collection was migrated to cassette tape in the 1990s and then transferred to digital beginning in 2020. Many of the recordings were in poor condition. The access recordings presented here have undergone audio enhancement in order to improve the user experience where possible, though some recordings remain difficult to understand. Unaltered audio transfers are available for researchers on request. Dr. Sackett served in the Department of English at FHSU for 23 years and founded the Kansas Folklore Society. His research materials were transferred to the University Archives in 1992.
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